McDonald's Franchise Owners See Sales Growth Fall

Posted Mon, 2008/01/14 - 06:18 by Bob Frankman

Franchisees See Six Year Low in Sales for December

McDonald's shares plunged on Friday as December same-store sales for franchise owners grew at the lowest level in six years. Reuter's stated, "The survey of 31 domestic franchisees, representing 195 restaurants of the nearly 14,000 in the United States, showed same store sales were up just 1.8 percent."

This news came just one working day before the New York Times reported that Americans are cutting back sharply "at every level of the American economy".

"The abrupt pullback raises the possibility that the country may be experiencing a rare decline in personal consumption, not just a slower rate of growth. Such a decline would be the first since 1991, and it would almost certainly push the entire economy into a recession in the middle of an election year. [NY Times]

In the meantime, McDonald's is pushing into premium coffees (see video above). Shortly after that announcement, Starbuck's ex-CEO Shultz returned to the firm to help position the chain for the future.

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